Statistics, Smoke, and Mirrors

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 2:56pm

Statistics. Do they mean anything at all, when they can be bent out of shape and spun any which way?

The facts. The truth. Are there such things? When two week floppolas are deemed hits on this board, one truly has to wonder.

I have to wonder when I see a feature on Broadway World showing an on-stage celebration of Spider-man's 1,000th performance. Because I stop and say to myself that the show officially opened in June, 2011, so how can that be? And when I check IBDB to see a tally of 811 performances thus far. So now they're counting previews as official performances to get it to 1,000, the same people who complained bitterly about people reviewing the show beore it had "opened?"

What a world.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:01pm

White People Problems.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:08pm

I didn't realize they said "official" performances since "opening." I thought it was 1,000 performances including the 1st public performance. But I'll re-read the article.

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:19pm

^

They may indeed not have said "official." But in the counting of performances, the number has always meant those from the opening on. That's why you see on IBDB one number for performances and one number for previews. That's why notorious one-performance flops like Kelly and Moose Murders ran one performance and not one + however many previews they played.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:22pm

It sounds like you're agitated at not having been invited to the party. :)

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:25pm

No, I'm agitated when people play fast and loose with the facts.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 3:55pm

I certainly considered the preview I attended a "performance." But your thread is about "Statistics...," not SPIDER-MAN. May we have some more examples, please?

[Playbilly]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 4:16pm

It's called PR, After8. Don't let it bother you, unless you're Julie.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 4:31pm

^ Ditto

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 6:53pm

Wow! Such rude and nasty responses!

Nice to see the amiable folk here on Broadway World in action.

I, for one would love to see a revival of Jerry's Girls.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/31/13 at 7:28pm

This type of fudging of the facts is not new

When Movie Palaces were going up the enterprising owners counted seats in the stalls as seats so they could trumpet their claims that their theater was bigger than one that just opened.